Smile your way to new beginnings

Ann James, founder of Sea Change - thinking space for women who are in progress - shares how a smile can help support our resolutions

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Smile your way to new beginnings

Hello again. Letโ€™s begin with a reminder of my January message to you, in the words of a favourite poet:

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

(For a New Beginning, by John Oโ€™Donohue)

What beginnings have you started to form over the last month?

Perhaps you tried to make some changes, then settled back into the comfort of your tried and tested โ€˜old waysโ€™. Thatโ€™s ok โ€“ itโ€™s an important message to yourself that perhaps you need to adjust your strategy and have another go.

Most of us know the frustrations of being all fired up to eat better / exercise more / have a clear out / get more sleep / change jobs / tackle a tricky relationship… (enter your own words here, you get the gist), only to feel our commitment fade after that initial burst of determination.

We have a saying in our house: โ€˜Keep going, Little Lionโ€™.

Those words come from a favourite childhood storybook, and they somehow capture that energy we can rekindle, even when we may have gone a bit adrift. And believe me, if you whisper those words to yourself, you will SMILE.

A smile tells our brains and our body that we feel good. Just search the words โ€˜smile endorphinsโ€™ โ€“ this is not just a fluke. The particular arrangement of the facial muscles that we need to organise in order to create a smile has a surprising effect:  our constitution changes with the release of feel-good endorphins, making us feel happier and reducing stress. And, guess what? this works even if itโ€™s a โ€˜fake smileโ€™.

So simply by smiling when you feel least like doing so, chances are youโ€™ll feel better.

That has to help us get back on track!  Back to the poem:

Then, the delight when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

(For a New Beginning, by John Oโ€™Donohue)

 

Keep smiling. See you in March.

(Ann James, Founder, Sea Change, www.sea-change.me)

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